Sandra Enkhardt
Austria offers €17.9 million to fund storage
The Austrian authorities have offered €17.9 million ($19 million) to fund medium-sized electricity storage systems, with €10 million from the climate action protection ministry and €7.9 million from the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD).
Austria adds 500 MW of PV in Q1
Austria’s Federal Association of Photovoltaics (PV Austria) says the nation added 500 MW of new solar capacity in the first quarter, driven by investments in private rooftop PV systems benefiting from a value-added tax (VAT) exemption.
Austria offers incentives for PV systems above 35 kW with European modules
The Austrian government has introduced incentives for PV systems over 35 kW that feature made-in-Europe modules. The measure aims to create new jobs and support the energy transition, offering a 20% higher subsidy for qualifying projects.
DLR launches solar atlas to identify rooftop PV potential in Germany
The German Aerospace Center (DLR) has created a solar atlas to identify rooftop PV potential in Germany. This new open-access online platform uses aerial photographs and geodata processed with machine-learning methods to determine solar energy potential for the country’s entire building stock of around 20 million units.
ITRPV says solar module prices fell 50% in 2023
The new edition of the International Technology Roadmap for Photovoltaic (ITRPV), published this week, reveals that the world’s installed PV capacity reached 1.6 TW at the end of last year. The learning curve, which reflects average module prices relative to cumulative shipments, is 24.9% for the period from 1976 to 2023.
German startup offers plug-and-play 2.46 kW PV system
Wattando has developed a new rooftop PV solution that can be easily connected to a household’s power network via an AC connection. The system uses existing infrastructure and reportedly reduces installation work and time.
Solarwatt shuts down battery factory in Germany
Solarwatt says it will shut down its battery factory in Germany. Battery production at the Dresden facility will halt at the end of this year, and the company will move all battery and solar panel production to China.
Germany’s January-April solar installations hit 5 GW
Germany added approximately 1 GW of new solar capacity in April and 4.9 GW in the first four months of this year, according to the Federal Network Agency (Bundesnetzagentur). The country’s total PV capacity now stands at 87.6 GW.
Germany records 50 hours of negative electricity prices for April
Average retail prices fell to €6.24 ($6.70)/MWh on the German electricity spot market in April, largely due to renewables covering about 70% of the network load.
Germany awards 2.23 GW in PV tender, with lowest bid of €0.0362/kWh
The German authorities have granted 2.23 GW in a utility-scale solar tender, with bids ranging from €0.0362 ($0.039)/kWh to €0.0549/kWh, oversubscribed to 4.1 GW.
